To find out what’s inside any fossil you dig up in the game, head on over to the town museum and meet up with Blathers the Owl. He’ll let you know exactly what you’ve find which will help in determining whether you want to keep it, donate it or sell it.

Donating a fossil is done right there in the museum. You’ll receive nothing in return except the personal achievement of seeing the fossil on display. Keeping the fossil is as simple as putting it in your home, while selling a fossil is done, where else, at Tom Nook’s.

Alternatively, you can unload a fossil via the auction house. The general rule of thumb is a fossil via auction is worth four times its resale value to Nook.

As with Animal Crossing fish (read the fish guide) and bugs/insects (read the bug guide), it is easy to get caught up in trying to collect every possible species available. This guide will help you do so, along with providing a Bells value for each fossil. Good luck digging!